Two Hearts Collide
by Xexar
Summary: This happens after 'Journey', might be slight spoilers if you haven't seen it yet. Rachel is dating Finn and goes to a party he is hosting. Santana let's the v-card cat out of the bag. Puckleberry.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, sorry for the confusion, this is the correct chapter one! I hope everything makes much more sense now, lol.

My main ship is St. Berry but since I can't really see a way for them to be together in the near future, what with Jesse going off to UCLA, I decided to write one for my second favorite ship. My preference tends towards canon but I really don't like the character of Finn. It seems that I will just have to be unhappy with Rachel's relationship choices on the show. Thank goodness for fanfics.

Rachel didn't usually attend parties. As a general rule, she preferred to spend her free time practicing for her eventual stardom rather than subject herself to a bunch of people that she knew didn't really like her anyway. But this time, she hoped it would be different. This party was at Kurt and Finn's and Finn had badgered her until she'd agreed to come.

When she'd asked Kurt if she should bring anything he'd rolled his eyes and sighed before walking away from her. Which kind of hurt her feelings. She wasn't sure what she'd ever done to make Kurt hate her so much. So, she'd told Finn that she wouldn't attend his party and then Finn had 'talked' to Kurt.

"Well, Miss Thing, it seems that my soon-to-be brother would like you to attend our little soiree so be at my house at seven sharp," and then he'd swanned off to speak with Mercedes.

Rachel had tried to ignore how awful she felt when they started whispering and pointing at her and laughing behind their hands. She tugged self-consciously on her sweater and smoothed her skirt. She looked down to see if she had a stain but didn't see anything. She was surprised to see Noah watching her when she looked up. He gave her a quick smile and turned away. Rachel couldn't help but smile back even though he didn't see it. It was the nicest thing anyone but Finn had done for her in a long time.

She turned to look up at Finn and saw him giving Noah a dirty look. Did he think something was going on between her and Noah? She tugged on his sleeve and pulled him down to kiss him on the cheek. "So, what should I wear? I-I've never been to a real party before. Well, I've been to some at the synagogue but I don't think those would be a good point of reference."

"Rachel, you look great in everything you wear," he gave her a sheepish grin.

Eyes batting slowly, Rachel turned to see Mr. Schue walking into class.

"All right guys, I know I said we'd be taking it easy until next year...so, I want you to break into teams of two or three and create a mashup with a song of your choice and a nursery rhyme."

There was a chorus of groans from the assembled kids. Rachel looked up eagerly, thinking this would be perfect for her and Finn to work on something together. She frowned, confused to see that Santana and Brittany had already claimed Finn for their group. Predictably, Kurt and Mercedes were a team, Tina and Artie were a team, Matt and Mike were a team, and Quinn and Puck were a team.

Rachel bit her lip, hard, so that she wouldn't start crying. She hadn't cried in public without a theatrical reason since she was a freshman and Noah had thrown his first slushie on her her first day at McKinley. She refused to be weak and cry again. So, she straightened her spine and quietly sat down.

Finn was looking a little guilty about being with Santana and Brittany but Santana had his arm in a death grip. So, while Rachel was not entirely happy with him she sort of understood why he didn't just ditch them. Mr. Schue was writing some notes on the white board and didn't realize that Rachel had been left out of the team process. She was focused on her hands, she kept clasping and unclasping them.

She was so focused that she didn't notice at first when Noah came over to sit by her. So when he said, "Hey, Berry, hows about you and me show these Gleeks how to do a mashup?" Rachel just about jumped a foot out of her chair.

She gave him a huge smile. "I-I thought you were working with Quinn?"

"Nah, Quinn decided to work with Kurt and Mercedes," he explained quietly.

Rachel was so relieved that she had someone to work with that she didn't care if Noah and Quinn had taken pity on her. "Thank you, Noah," she said quietly. "I know you said we weren't friends. But I have always thought of you as one."

Puck gave her one of his genuine grins. Since Quinn had had the baby and life had settled down some Puck had mellowed a little. "Sure, Berry," he looked around the class, "just don't tell anybody, okay?"

The smile died on Rachel's face. "Oh..." but she was Rachel Berry and so she just put up a fake one. "Of course, Noah."

Puck gave her a funny look. "Geez, lady, you have got to learn to take a joke if you and I are going to be hanging around."

Her real smile back, "Okay, sorry," she blushed shyly, "I'll have to accustom myself to teasing. It is not a skill that I have had much use for. I'm not meant to find most of the teasing that comes my way funny."

"This is why you have no friends, Rachel. You gotta loosen up a bit. Let the past go," he looked very serious, "you can do that, right?"

She nodded. From across the room Quinn was staring daggers at her. Finn looked like he'd been sucker punched, whether from what Santana and Brit were saying or because Rachel was with Noah, she didn't know.

"So, are you going to the party tonight?" Rachel asked. She wasn't used to having things to talk to her fellow Glee clubbers about except music. It was sort of nice.

"Hell yeah. If there's beer, then I'm there. And I'm pretty sure Kurt's dad and Finn's mom are going to be out most of the night." Puck realized that Rachel had been informed of the party. "Are you going to the party tonight?" he asked skeptically.

Rachel smiled a little smugly, "Why yes, I am. Promptly at seven."

Puck laughed. "Okay, Berry, I'll see you there."

"Oh one other thing. Finn, didn't seem to know. What should I wear?"

Puck grinned, "I don't think you need to wear anything," he laughed when she slapped at his hand. "Nah, your usual skirt and a sweater set or whatever is fine."

She bit her lip. "I'm not old enough to drink, Noah. Should I bring a soda for myself? My understanding is that there will be underage drinking going on," she stated primly.

"Do you drink iced tea?" he asked slyly.

She shrugged. "I like iced tea. Particularly if it's green tea and has been steeped in 180 degree water for 5 and a half minutes before being iced."

Puck laughed. "Well I can't promise that it will be steeped or anything, but just ask for a Long Island iced tea."

"Thank you, Noah," she batted her eyes at him and walked over to Finn since it was the end of practice. "I'll see you tonight," she called over her shoulder

Puck just laughed. He would pay money to see Rachel Berry drunk. And tonight he might get to see it for free.


	2. Chapter 2

Since the party was where Finn lived he and Rachel had decided it would be silly for him to come pick her up. So, Rachel pulled into the driveway at two minutes til seven. She was wearing a new outfit; a pretty mint green plaid skirt, white silk top with cap sleeves, and a matching mint green sweater in case she got cold.

Rachel knocked on the door and was a little surprised when Mr. Hummel answered the door. "Hello, sir, are Finn and Kurt here?"

"Oh, sure. Rachel, right? Finn's girl?" Burt asked.

Rachel could tell that she was blushing. "Y-yes." She stepped in when Mr. Hummel stepped aside. She jumped when he bellowed Finn's name right above her ear.

Finn came running up the stairs, grinning with delight when he saw Rachel. "Hey, Rache. Mr. Hummel, my mom said that she's ready when you are," he took Rachel's hand. "Have fun tonight, sir."

"I thought they were going out?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, they are. They just want to make sure everyone is here first so they know who showed in case something happens or something," Finn explained. "I'm so glad that you agreed to come." He motioned for her to precede him down the basement stairs. "I don't know what got into Santana and Brit today...they would not let me go," he said glumly, "I really wanted to do this assignment with you."

"Me too. But Noah was kind enough to rescue me from humiliation so I will just be happy to have avoided explaining to Mr. Schuester that no one wanted to partner me."

"Sorry. Hey, can I get you something to drink?"

"Oh, Long Island iced tea?"

Finn looked at her strangely. They hadn't been dating long, but Finn was pretty certain that Rachel didn't drink. "Uh, okay, I'll be right back with that."

Rachel looked around the room. She'd heard a little about what had happened between Finn and Kurt. Enough that she was mostly on Kurt's side, there was no excuse to use that sort of language with anyone. But, honestly, what was Kurt thinking? Rachel thought this room would be perfectly acceptable for herself, there was no way Finn could ever be comfortable in desert chic.

A few minutes later Finn returned with a glass of what looked to be regular iced tea. Rachel took a sip and found it to be sweeter than she liked but it tasted fine so she took another sip. "Thanks Finn, this is really good."

"Sure, Rach-" he started but was interrupted when Burt bellowed down for him again. He gave her one of his boyish grins and promised, "I'll be right back," before heading up the stairs again.

Rachel went and sat on the divan and took another sip of her drink. She wondered why she'd never had one of these before, they were really good. And she giggled. Surprised, she slapped her mouth with her hand. And she giggled again.

Mercedes, Quinn, Puck, Santana, and Brittany were talking and laughing as they came down the stairs. Santana froze. "What's Man Hands doing here?"

Rachel gave them all a sloppy smile and an exaggerated wave of welcome. "Hey, guys!"

Quinn was staring at Rachel with the most peculiar expression, but Rachel didn't seem to mind. In fact, she just wanted to go give Quinn a big hug. But when Rachel sat up, the room spun a little. This had never happened before but perhaps she was a little dehydrated. She took a long pull of her iced tea.

"Oh my God, I think Rachel has a tumor," Brittany said, sounding sad.

"No, RuPaul is drunk," Santana corrected her.

Rachel tried sitting herself up again and this time she made it. "Fiiiiinnn," she called happily. "Oh, Fiiiiinnnn," she patted the divan next to her.

Finn, who had followed the girls downstairs, went to sit next to Rachel. "Hey, I think maybe I should take that away now," he tried to grab her glass. "Maybe I could get you a water or some soda?"

"I like it," Rachel assured everyone.

"FINN!" Burt called.

"Damn, look, that's gotta be Mike and Matt. I'll be right back Rachel. Just, don't drink any more of that, okay?"

"Sure, whateva-eva-ever you say, Finn," Rachel agreed cheerily as she took another sip of tea. For some reason Quinn had Puck in a death grip and she looked like she was really bitching him out.

Mercedes and Kurt were laughing at her, but that wasn't unusual. In fact, it would be stranger if they weren't laughing at her. Santana and Brittany were in a corner whispering to each other, looking oddly serious for two girls at a party. Tina was the first one down the stairs followed by Matt and Mike carrying Artie in his wheel chair and finally Finn.

"All right, guys. Since everyone is here, Finn's mom and I are going to go have dinner and then see a movie in Dayton. So, we'll be gone for about six hours. I expect this house to look the same as it does right now when we get back," Burt grinned. "We'll be here to break up the party around one. Have fun."


	3. Chapter 3

Puck hadn't thought that Rachel would actually ask for or receive a real Long Island iced tea. But it appeared this party had some potential. Quinn seemed to think he was responsible for Rachel being three sheets to the wind. And while he knew he was, there was no way he was going to admit that to Quinn who kept badgering him about 'the last girl he'd gotten drunk'.

"Puck, she's not going to thank you for this," Quinn warned. She almost felt sorry for the home wrecking witch.

"Hey, this happened before I even got here," Puck defended. "How could I have gotten her drunk?"

"I don't know...but I do know you, Puckerman, and this has you written all over it," Quinn retorted tartly. "You better make sure she doesn't get hurt." Quinn sort of stormed off. She didn't want to be tied down to Rachel all night, of all people. So, she went to hang with Mercedes, Kurt, Mark, and Matt.

Puck got a little closer to Santana since she was voluntarily sitting by Rachel; that was automatically suspicious. Oddly enough, Finn seemed a little freaked out by it. What the hell was going on?

"Santana!" Rachel greeted her loudly and tried to hug her. "Your solo at Regionals was soooo good!"

"Thanks, RuPaul, but please, shut up," Santana mostly sounded really pissed off. And then in a catlike purr, "So, what did Finn tell you about our date?"

"The one with you and Brittany? Hi, Brittany!" Rachel called. "Finn said you made him wait in the car," her brow was all scrunched up. "Is that why you guys never went out on a second date?"

Puck saw the look of triumph pass over Santana's face. He hadn't figured out why this was news though. So, Finn and Santana had gone out. Rachel had been dating Jesse at the time. He didn't see why she'd care, although chicks did seem to care about weird shit like that.

"Oh, Finn?" Santana called, getting up to stand by him, she ran her hand up and down his arm.

Finn looked really uncomfortable and his eyes kept darting all over the room. Puck almost felt sorry for him, he was pretty sure he knew what was coming next.

"I see you didn't tell Rachel about our...date?" Santana leaned her hand on her hip in a very aggressive posture. "Are you ashamed of what we did?" she was looking up at him with narrowed, pissed off eyes. "I mean, you need practice, but you're kind of hot so we can work on that some more. If you want."

"I'm with Rachel now, Santana. But thanks," Finn said quietly.

"How can you be with someone if she doesn't even know that you aren't a virgin anymore?" Santana asked loudly.

Puck was watching so he got to see firsthand when Rachel figured out what Santana was saying. She blinked furiously and bit her lip so she wouldn't cry. Her hand went over her mouth and Puck couldn't tell if she was going to hurl or if she was just trying to keep all her emotions under control. Shit, this was worse than in class today.

"F-finn? What is she talking about?" Rachel asked sadly.

"It's nothing, Rach. She's just joking. Right, Santana?" Finn asked pointedly.

"No, Finn. You and I had sex. I took your v-card. You are a man, not a boy anymore," her face hardened and her voice was brittle. "I didn't realize you were ashamed of what we did together. I thought you enjoyed yourself."

"I did," Finn started. "I mean, I didn't. I mean...I mean..." Finn repeated, he just kept looking at Rachel with a face full of anguish. "I mean, it didn't mean anything. Please, Rachel, say something."

Rachel just sat on the divan, no sign of her earlier happy drunkenness. "Why did you lie to me?"

"I don't know, okay?" Finn yelled.

"Berry?" Puck walked over to her. "Santana, I think you've done enough for one night. Why don't you and Brit go make out or something?" He held a hand out to Rachel. "Come on, Berry, let's go sober you up a little."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all the reviews and alerts. I need to apologize, in the last chapter I accidentally called Mike 'Mark'...not sure what happened there, so sorry, hope it wasn't too distracting.**

After trying and failing to grab Puck's hand he realized she was drunker than he'd thought. Puck picked Rachel up and carried her up the stairs. He sat her down on the sofa in the family room and left her just long enough to fill up a glass of water.

"Oh, Noah," Rachel sighed and then downed the rest of her iced tea. She always drank when she was depressed, usually it was water, but she supposed iced tea would work just as well.

He hadn't realized she still had the Long Island iced tea in her hand until she'd chugged the rest of it down. "Damn it, Berry."

"Noah, please don't yell at me. I don't think I can take anyone yelling at me right now," she sounded very close to tears.

"Okay, no yelling," he agreed grudgingly. "Why are you letting Santana get to you like that? She'd a vindictive bitch. Just ignore her," he suggested.

"I-I can't," Rachel choked out on a sob. "I promised myself I'd never cry in front of anyone again," she sobbed, "unless I was acting. So, can we pretend that you're helping me rehearse?"

"Sure, Berry. What are we rehearsing?"

"I d-don't know," she admitted miserably, sniffling. "I bet Quinn is beautiful even when she cries. I do not have that talent," Rachel sobbed. She looked up at Noah, needing some human contact, some comfort and Noah was the only one there. "Will you sit with me? Please?"

Puck sat next to her on the couch. "Sure, Berry."

"Noah."

"Yeah?"

"I don't have any friends. It's lonely, you know. I know, once I'm a star that I'll have lots of friends and people will love me," she confided to him, "but until then...it's just lonely."

Puck felt his heart constrict. He was feeling guilty for telling this girl who had offered to be his friend that they weren't and never had been. Puck took a deep breath, "I'm your friend, Rachel."

"Thank you, Noah. That means a lot to me."

"I've been thinking about my options," Rachel whispered.

"Like what?"

"Well, I know I'm not Catholic, but do you think there really are musical nuns a la Whoopi in 'Sister Act'?" her eyes were wide and serious. "I can't imagine my life without music. Without singing. But I can't take one more person choosing someone else," she swallowed heavily. "So, I thought that by becoming a musical nun I could effectively remove myself from the market and still have a singing career. Of sorts. And then it might not hurt so badly because no one wants me," her lip quivered with feeling.

Where in the fuck did she come up with this shit? Puck bit his lip so that he wouldn't laugh in her face. "Berry?"

"Yes?"

"Are we just going to talk all damn night?" Puck asked. He wasn't much of a talker, he'd prefer to just sit with her in silence until she felt better. Or puked up all that alcohol. Or someone else who was better at dealing with chicks finally took pity on him and came upstairs to take her off his hands. It was strange, but he'd had a lot more experience cleaning up after drunk girls than talking to them-drunk or sober.

"No, we don't have to, I guess," she bumped his shoulder with her elbow. Puck turned to see what she wanted and was stunned to find Rachel's mouth locking onto his.

Now, Puck was kind of seeing Quinn and had been since she'd had the baby. But Quinn had refused to accept any sort of exclusivity since she said she was going to try to accept Puck for who he was. And no matter how much he protested that he was willing to change Quinn refused to believe it. He'd even told her he loved her...but she hadn't returned the sentiment. And he did love her, but now he wasn't sure if he was _in_ love with her. He hadn't realized there was a distinction until right now. But he did know that if he were in love with Quinn then he wouldn't even be tempted by Rachel. And tempted was a mild word for what he was feeling right now.

Deciding it was the alcohol, Puck tried to pull away; he didn't want Rachel to be embarrassed or get mad at him for taking advantage. Or even run for her rape whistle. But Rachel wasn't having any of that, she pushed him back and then practically climbed on top of him. Straddling him, her mouth opened over his and he felt her soft tongue swipe delicately at his lower lip. It was one of the most erotic things Puck had ever felt.

Intending to talk, to try to convince her that they couldn't do this, Puck opened his mouth. Rachel took that as an invitation to deepen their kiss. He was pretty amazed, that was a Puckasaurus move, not what he'd expect from a novice like Berry. She nibbled at his lip and then ran her tongue over the same spot. Puck was finding it hard to keep his thoughts straight.

"Why doesn't anyone want me, Noah? I try...I try so hard," she confessed.

Puck was not good with words, wasn't comfortable with them. "I want you, Berry. I told you that we were friends."

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant," she looked down and blushed, "_want_ me. Even Finn...he and Santana...he couldn't just have sex with her if he really wanted me. And Jesse," she sighed glumly, "he wanted his team more than he wanted me. I think I've been scarred for life because no one wants me." She looked up at him. "What's so horrible about me?"

Puck made an executive decision in that moment. It would be easier to show her than try to convince her so he took Rachel by the hand and pressed it into the hardened flesh between his legs. "Does this feel like no one wants you?"

"Oh," she sighed out against his neck. "You're so..."

"Yeah, I know, Berry," he said smugly. Then as she ran her hand up and down his length Puck felt all the air leave his lungs. "No, this is not-" he started but then she flicked her finger over the tip and he couldn't think for a second. "Rachel, we can't-" he began again but she settled her mouth in the crook of his neck and started kissing him there. He shivered. "Shit, I don't care," he finally said, smashing her to his chest.

"Me neither, Noah. You are just so yummy," she ran her hands down his sides. "I didn't know boys could be yummy, you know," she giggled into his well-muscled shoulder.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter focuses on what happens when Rachel and Noah are upstairs.**

Downstairs, Brittany was sitting on a bar stool, swinging her legs. "Hey, did you know that potatoes can see you?" she asked to no one in particular after taking a swig of beer.

Santana looked over at Brittany wondering how the girl managed to get into her Cheerios uniform by herself in the morning. She shook her head ruefully at the girl who was about as smart as a bag of Pet Rocks.

Mike and Matt were playing 'blur' on the Xbox. Mike was kicking the crap out of Matt, as usual. But the two boys seemed oblivious to the drama that was going on around them.

Quinn was sitting on the divan. When Puck went upstairs with Rachel she had accepted that she and Puck would probably not be dating after tonight. She wasn't blind, she could see the way that Puck looked at Rachel. Since the whole thing with Jesse the only one that Rachel was looking at was Finn.

And in her heart of hearts Quinn was still in love with Finn. Why was it that every boy Quinn became involved with fell for Rachel Berry? She was obnoxious the way she was on everyone every single minute to work harder. And she wasn't even pretty, yet both Puck and Finn circled around her like she was some heroine out of a Jane Austen novel.

Finn had locked himself in the bathroom. Kurt was pounding on the door. "Finn, you have to go after her. Don't be such a coward." After two minutes Kurt walked away with a heavy sigh of frustration. It's not like he wanted Finn to be with Rachel anyway.

Mercedes decided to give it a try. "Look, Finn, we all do stupid stuff sometimes. But, your girl Rachel went off with Puck for comfort. I think we all know that is not good. So, get your blindingly white boy ass out here and go after her."

Santana got up and walked over to the door. She fiddled the handle back and forth and found it to be locked. Removing one of the bobby pins that kept her hair sleekly in place she began picking the lock. When Mercedes looked like she was about to ask how Santana knew how to pick a lock she merely cocked her head to the side, put on a really pissed expression, and raised her eye brow.

Mercedes really wanted to know how the Latina girl knew how to pick a lock. And more importantly if she was willing to share the secret. But seeing the look on Santana's face, Mercedes wisely decided that she didn't want to know anything that much. Without saying anything Mercedes turned around and went to find Kurt.

Finn looked at himself in the mirror and dashed at his eyes. He was not crying, he'd just gotten some dust in them...really. He had this sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Look what Puck and Quinn had done to him, he wasn't sure he could take it if Puck and Rachel...he slammed his fist down on the counter. He'd forgiven Quinn and Puck. He'd waited while Rachel had dated that jackhole Jesse. And now that he had Rachel she was off with Puck. Just like Quinn. Drunk, just like Quinn. Fine, let them go off and have sex, see if he cared.

Finn crumpled into a fetal position on the floor of the bathroom and sobbed. He'd locked the door so when the handle turned he was surprised that it swung open and there was Santana. "I have something in my eye," he explained.

"Sure, you do. I thought we could do it," she said baldly. Her pride had been hurt when Finn had pretended nothing had happened between them and Puck dumped her for Mercedes. She hated Man Hands but couldn't quite figure out why.

"Santana, you're pretty and all...but Rachel," he protested.

"Look, RuPaul is up there with Puck," she smiled bitterly, "what do you think is happening? Your girlfriend is giving it up to the biggest stud at school," Santana informed him without sugar coating it. "I just thought you and I could...you know..." she raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Finn shook his head. "No, Rachel wouldn't do that to me."

"Well, maybe if you'd told her about sleeping with me, you'd be right. But right now, fresh from that Jesse kid being such a douche and lying to her...I'm not sure how reasonable she's going to be about you lying to her too." Santana related this in her usual bitchy tone, softened slightly with sympathy for Finn. And as usual, she ignored any involvement she may have had with Man Hands finding out about her and Finn.

"Oh, God, you're right," Finn sounded tortured. Rachel was never going to forgive him.

"So, are we going to do it, or what?" she asked, sounding almost bored.

"Yeah, I guess," Finn agreed, not sounding very enthusiastic. He thought it might make him feel better or at least forget for a little while that he had screwed everything up. Again.

Santana knelt next to Finn. She waited for him, passive. For such an aggressive girl, she much preferred the guy to take the lead when it came to actually having sex. She didn't have to wait more than a few seconds before Finn reached up and pulled her down next to him. He pressed his mouth to her neck and kissed her softly. And wetly she noticed a little annoyed.

"Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"You're beautiful," Finn breathed. "And you smell nice. Sort of like flowers and corn chips," he grinned at her in his goofy way. "I like it."

"Thanks Finn," she sounded like she wasn't sure this was actually a compliment or not. "Brit and I had some Fritos on our way over."

Finn leaned in to kiss her again. He pressed his mouth to hers until she opened hers. His tongue swept inside her mouth and she tasted like beer and Fritos; a combination that Finn rather liked. His hand went up to her breast.

Finn wondered in some small part of his brain how he could be doing this again. He didn't even really want Santana...he wanted Rachel. Emotionally, this wasn't very satisfying. But physically, Finn was totally into it. He was already hard and getting impatient to get Santana's clothing off. He pulled her top up and over her head before kissing her breast just above her bra.

Santana tilted her head back so Finn could continue kissing up her neck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and all the people who have alerted or read this story. I welcome any constructive criticism. And if there's anything you'd like to see let me know. No promises though lol.**

Puck smiled, no girl had ever described him as 'yummy' before. "Hey, does that mean that you have thought that girls can be yummy? Cause that's hot," he smirked.

Rachel lifted her mouth off his neck long enough to slap his chest playfully and frown briefly. "Noah, you are inco- incorrigible," she insisted.

"Do you think you can stick to the words I know the meanings of? I'm at a disadvantage here with all the blood rushing from my head cause you're so fucking hot."

Blushing with pleasure Rachel began kissing Noah's chest. When she got to his nipple ring she darted her tongue out to play with it, flicking it back and forth. She stopped and smiled up at him smugly when he moaned.

Puck believed in tit for tat. Especially when it involved an actual tit. He fumbled with the buttons on Berry's blouse, making a pleased grunt when he finally got the last one undone and the shirt pushed back. He drew his finger slowly along the soft skin peeking out of her pink lace bra. He dragged in a harsh breath as he watched her nipple pucker through the transparent fabric.

Pink lace? Rachel Berry? Crap, he thought, she doesn't wear pink lace. He knew from all the times he'd slushied her when she was wearing a white blouse that she wore white cotton training bras. "Berry?"

"Umm, yes, Noah?" she was lightly biting his ear lobe now.

"I need you to tell me something," his hand was inching over her ribs towards the hooks in the back even while he was trying to tell himself he needed to stop, or at least slow down.

"Um kay, whatever you want, Noah. Because you are so hot. Do you know how hot you are?" she asked with her hand tracing the bulge between his legs and her mouth nibbling on the skin where his neck and shoulder met.

Damn it, why was she being like this. This was not the Rachel Berry he knew. What in the hell was he supposed to do so she wouldn't hate him. Because if he did what he wanted...what she seemed to want too then Puck was sure that come tomorrow, Rachel Berry would hate him.

With her hand on him, he couldn't think straight, so he pulled her hand up to his chest. He cleared his throat so that he could speak again. "Were you planning to have sex with Finn tonight?"

Rachel froze at his question. "Why?"

"Shit, in chick that means 'yes'," Puck swore some more under his breath, his hand frozen on the clasp of her bra.

"So what?" she asked, "I don't plan on having sex with him tonight anymore," Rachel ran her hand over his chest and started nibbling on his ear again. "I might be interested in an offer from someone else," she ran her tongue along the whorl in his ear causing Noah to shudder under her.

"You were going to do this with Finn. I don't know if-" Puck broke off when Rachel pressed her warm crotch against his and ground slowly against him. "This might not-" Puck inhaled sharply when she pressed her pert breasts right against his mouth. "Damn it, woman, will you let me complete a thought?"

She smiled impishly. "I just did." Then she pretend pouted. "Don't you want to play, Noah?"

Groaning, "Yes, Rachel, I want to play," he brought his hands up to cup her breasts through the lace. Puck was so hard that he ached. His mouth found one erect nipple through the cloth while he lifted her other breast out of the cup of her bra. Switching to her bared breast he sucked her nipple into his mouth, gently nibbling until Rachel was moaning incoherently.

Rachel leaned back, lifting her arms over her head to give Noah better access and rubbed her warm, willing, and very wet self against Noah's erection. Moaning softly, she did it again. "Is this what sex is like?" she asked her eyes darker than usual with passion.

Puck frowned. He knew there was something wrong with that statement but he couldn't remember what exactly. Working his fingers over her bra clasp, Rachel's breasts were freed from the pink lace. Puck was alternating between the two; sucking softly on one nipple and then gently licking the other.

Rachel was thrashing against Noah. She was so excited that she couldn't form a sentence if she tried. She wanted more. That word kept flashing through her mind. More. More. More.

Puck grinned, finally coming up for air. "I think you need to drink more, Berry." Then he thought about it, he wasn't sure he would survive being around her if she were like this more often. "On second thought, no you don't."

"Oh no, I never drink," she countered breathlessly. "It's against the law for sixteen year olds to drink. And while some two-bit hacks are happy to allow their name to be attached to all sorts of nefarious doings in the name of being famous...I plan to do it the hard way, Noah. I am going to earn it with hard work and talent."

Puck was impressed that she managed to not slur her words at all while maintaining a tone that conveyed she actually meant what she said. She must practice that speech in front of her mirror or something, he thought. "I believe you."

She smiled up at him softly, waited for him to look down at her, then swiped her tongue over his nipple. "That's so sweet, Noah. But, why wouldn't you? It's the trush," then she made it even funnier by looking down while pursing her lips, as if she could look at her lips and see why they had betrayed her. "Trush." Another look of confusion. "Truth," she finally got out. "Noah?"

"Yeah, Berry?" he responded warmly.

"What exactly is in a Long Island iced tea?"

"Fuck if I know. But I can tell you there's no tea in there," Puck laughed at her look of outrage.

"I'm drunk?" she screeched.

"I've been trying to tell you that," Puck pretended to look down at a nonexistent watch, "for like ever now."

"I'm drunk," Rachel repeated softly. "Huh, I can see the appeal now."

Puck had no idea how to field that so he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.

"Noah? I want you to know that I really think you're hot, and sometimes I can't help but remember making out with you when we were dating...but I'm with Finn, right?" Rachel couldn't remember actually breaking up with Finn, so she thought that meant that she hadn't. But she was probably going to. But first, she needed to talk to Finn, to see what had really happened. Maybe he had a good reason to not tell her about Santana.

"Yeah, Berry. As much fun as this is, I would like Finn to forgive me someday, so..." Puck's voice trailed off. He kept looking at her shyly from the corner of his eye. Sort of hoping she'd agree with him and also hoping that she'd say screw Finn.

Rachel heaved a sigh, "I think I'm ready to head back downstairs now. Would that be okay, Noah?" Rachel tried standing but had forgotten she was straddling Noah. She did a rather ungraceful move where she ended up sitting even more firmly in Puck's lap with her mouth less than an inch from his.

"Okay, Berry. You slide off first, okay?" She nodded her assent. "I'll be down in a few minutes. Are you sure you can manage the stairs on your own?" he asked skeptically.

"I'll be fine, Noah. Besides which, even if I did break something, it would be healed in time for Glee next year, so you have nothing about which to worry," she assured him in one long breath.

Puck frowned a little. He'd be concerned if Rachel fell down the stairs but not because it would affect the Glee club. He didn't want her to be hurt. A fact that he'd had to consider twice in the last month: when Jesse had gone back to VA and tp'ed their choir room and then when he'd egged her. Puck had kept his revenge for that a secret since Rachel was related to Gandhi or something. Apparently, some people really believed that violence never solved anything. Suckers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you guys enjoy. Thanks again for all of the alerts and especially all of the reviews!**

"Oh, God, Santana," Finn moaned. They both had their shirts off but Santana was still wearing her black satin bra. Finn ran his hands down her arms and then back up again before hugging her close. He put his lips against her neck, moaning softly. He still wasn't sure about the disconnect between his body and his heart but in the midst of getting to touch Santana he didn't care too much.

"Mmm, Finn," she moaned. Santana was bored. Finn was probably in the top ten of the worst fucks of her life. If she were honest with herself she'd rather make out with Brittany than almost any of the guys she'd been with. But this was a block she'd been around before and she knew how to navigate it well. She felt Finn's hard-on through his jeans, smiling smugly when his breathing sped way up and his hands stopped roaming up and down her arms.

"Oh, God," Finn moaned again, he was pulling at Santana's shorts trying to unfasten them but not having much luck. Finally, he got the button undone and then the zipper which was easy. Her panties matched the bra and Finn happily slid his hands all over the slippery satin and then cupping her ass, pulling her against him.

Santana stifled a yawn. She pulled Finn's mouth down to hers and started working on the snap to his jeans. Finn had managed to get them so that she was half-leaning and half-sitting on the bathroom counter while he stood between her legs so she tilted back to get a better angle. Finn's pants were undone and starting to fall when the bathroom door was shoved open.

"Obviously, we have things we need to talk about Finn Hudson and we cannot do that if you are going to hide behi-" Rachel stopped speaking as soon as her brain was able to process what her eyes were seeing. Finn had his shirt off and his jeans were beginning to slide off his hips. Santana had her skirt rucked up, legs wrapped around Finn, and her shirt off. Numbly Rachel noticed that Santana had nicer breasts than she did. "Oh," her mouth formed the word but no sound would come.

"Berry, get the fuck out of there, if Finnessa is going to bitch and whine like a little baby, let him or should I say...," Puck's voice trailed off when he moved Rachel out of the door frame and could see past to what she'd been staring at. "Shit," Puck said softly.

"Damn it! Get out of here!" Finn started yelling. He pushed Santana a little roughly, trying to get her away from him. As if he could get away from her fast enough then Rachel would not realize what he'd been about to do.

Santana did not appear to be hurt, it was just a little shove. She dealt with worse than that every day at Cheerio practice so she just shrugged it off and bent down to pull her shorts back on. Dimly she was aware that she should be embarrassed or something. Mostly, she just didn't give a shit.

"Finn Hudson! Don't you dare treat Santana like that! She is a human being and worthy of your respect," Rachel stated hotly. Rachel did not stand for the mistreatment of others. She had suffered enough at the hands of other people that she just couldn't bear to stand aside and do nothing when she thought she could help. "Apologize!" she insisted imperiously.

Santana gave Rachel a look of amused curiosity. She had not been in the position of someone trying to protect her in...she couldn't remember the last time someone had felt the need. Santana took care of herself, she didn't need anyone, hadn't for a very long time. Her mom didn't even seem to care when her stepdad smacked her around. So, to have RuPaul come along and call Finn on his rough handling was novel.

"I'm sorry! Oh God, I'm so sorry," Finn cried almost hysterical. "It didn't mean anything. I love you, Rachel!"

Puck was surprised at the depth of sorrow that was written in Berry's face and then the determination.

"Yes, well, it meant something to me, Finn," she said quietly and walked out the door.

"Yeah, what she said," Puck smirked. "And Hudson?"

"What Puck? What more do you want from me?" Finn begged. He had pulled his jeans back up and was now facing away from Santana. "First Quinn...now Rachel. What was I supposed to do while you were up there having sex with the girl that I love?"

Puck had never felt such disappointment. It was tough to realize that he'd been one of the many people who'd put St. Finneus up on his golden pedestal. He'd never thought Finn could fuck things up as badly as Puck had. It was a bitch being wrong. "I would recommend faith, Finn."

"What? You want me to become a priest?"

Puck smiled before he could help himself remembering what Berry had said earlier in the evening about becoming a nun. "No, asshole, faith in Berry. I get you not trusting me," he nodded, "but what has she ever done, to deserve your lack of faith, dude?"

"But...I thought...oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Finn moaned.

"So, you stay the hell away from her," Puck stated calmly. "Got it?"

"Yeah. No, fuck no, I don't understand anything that happened tonight. This wasn't supposed to be how it was, man," Finn leaned his head against the mirror. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Hey, I get it. You should have just told her the truth, man. She was with Jesse at the time," Puck looked disgusted, pretty sure he'd figured out what Finn had been thinking. "So, what, you had to seem like the perfect guy? It's not okay to just have sex, like the rest of us? St. Finneus needed Rachel to believe that he was going to wait for her, for 'true love'?" Puck demanded in a bitter tone.

Puck shook his head when Finn just stood there looking at him with that stupid puppy dog look. Puck stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. In the main room Kurt had his arm awkwardly draped around Berry attempting to comfort her from as great a distance as possible. He watched as Berry straightened herself up and headed to the bar in the corner.

"I was feeling much better when I was drunk," she said with conviction. "Who wants to join me?"

The assembled Glee kids looked on in a combination of horror, fascination, and amusement. The Cheerio faction seemed amused; Matt and Mike were fascinated; and the Gleeks looked on in shocked horror. Puck thought Rachel was having a perfectly natural reaction to walking in on the guy who says he loves you practically screwing a girl who hates your guts.


	8. Chapter 8

**I own nothing. Hope you enjoy. **

Puck laughed as Rachel pulled another bottle out from behind the bar, removed the cap, and took a swig.

"Gah! What is this one?" she protested, eyes watering.

"That's gin," Puck informed her. Thus far she'd tried rum, spiced rum, whiskey, and scotch; she didn't care for any of them.

"Who in their right mind would drink that? It tastes like rubbing alcohol," she stated vehemently.

"How do you know what rubbing alcohol tastes like, RuPaul?" Santana snarked.

"Really, Santana? You pretty much ruin my night and the best you can do is grill me on how I know what rubbing alcohol tastes like?" then Rachel sighed heavily. "I do not know what it tastes like, but this tastes like rubbing alcohol smells, happy?" she asked in a long-suffering tone.

"Yeah, whatever," Santana mumbled, flipping her pony tail.

Brittany walked over and took the bottle from Rachel. She took a long pull and looked at Rachel. "No, rubbing alcohol is way worse," Brit said authoritatively. "Especially the minty green kind. Which really, you'd think would be better, cause it's mint, right?"

"Generally, they taste better when you mix them with other shit," Puck explained. Then Puck walked behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid. "Try this one."

Rachel unscrewed the cap and upended the bottle. Her eyes shot wide, "That's not too bad," she conceded.

"Yeah, it's mostly water," Puck laughed, "After we slashed Vocal Adrenaline's tires Finn and I..." his laughing tone died abruptly.

"You can talk about Finn," Rachel assured him. And then as if by saying his name she'd flipped a switch, she started to get teary again. And she might be mostly drunk but she had enough sense of self-preservation to know she didn't want to cry in front of the glee club. "I want to go home," Rachel whined, lip quivering.

Puck felt some sympathy, she'd had one hell of a bad night. But he couldn't let her drive herself home."You're drunk, Berry, do you want to call one of your dads?"

Rachel's eyes widened in horror.

Puck chuckled, "Guess not."

"I can drive," Rachel said.

Puck just raised his eye brow at her.

Rachel pouted but gave in to what seemed would be an inevitability, "Noah, can you take me home?"

"Sure, Berry, one sec," he went to talk to Quinn. Quinn looked up at Rachel with narrowed eyes, her lips pursed as if she'd just bitten into a lemon but she nodded assent to whatever he asked. "All right, let's go," Puck grabbed his coat off the divan.

Rachel walked over to the bathroom where Finn was still trying to figure out how his life had spun so completely out of control. "Finn? I'm leaving," she said loudly.

"I'm sorry," he yelled back. "Please, Rachel, I love you and I'm just sorry."

Rachel smiled sadly and pressed her hand to the door almost as if she could feel Finn on the other side. "Good bye, Finn," she whispered too quietly for him to hear. She shook herself, dashed the tears sparkling on her lashes and practically marched towards the stairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Puck groused with a smile.

Rachel stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up. "If I leave, it's real. If Finn doesn't come after me, if he can't explain..." she turned around and looked up at Noah seriously. Then, with a bitter smile, "I'm being silly, aren't I? Of course it's over." She turned back to the stairs.

Puck stood there, waiting for Rachel to walk up the stairs. Waiting for Rachel to be ready.

"I can't, Noah. I can't do it," she whispered.

Puck sighed heavily, "Well, Berry, I hope you can forgive me then."

Rachel turned back around wondering what he was talking about. Which is when Puck decided to grab her around the waist and haul her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Puck started up the stairs, half expecting Rachel to protest. But instead she was quiet.

Finally, about half-way up, "Noah?"

He ran up a couple more steps, ignoring her.

"Noah!" she gasped desperately. Opening her mouth to say his name again she gagged a little this time.

Puck had her straightened up as soon as he heard her gag. He walked her over to the couch and sat her down gently. "Sorry, Berry, but there is no puking on the Puckster."

Rachel smiled up at him weakly. Her face was somewhere between ash and green. And she felt like hell. "I think I'm going to be o-okay," she said, swallowing after with some difficulty.

"All right, let's get some water into you," Puck wandered into the kitchen and started banging cupboards until he found a glass. He filled it with water from the fridge and brought it over to Rachel. "Here, just sip slowly."


	9. Chapter 9

**I own nothing. Hope you enjoy. 8 and 9 are short, so I posted them together.**

Rachel took the cool glass gratefully and sipped. Feeling a wave of nausea roll over her, Rachel started to get up. "I need a bathroom, Noah," she said tearfully.

"Okay, Berry, come on, I think there's one down this way," Puck guided her down the hallway. Rachel knelt next to the brown porcelain bowl. "Here, let me help you," Noah offered. He pulled her sweater off and then pulled her hair back with one hand.

Before she could turn around to thank him, she was tossing up a stomach full of alcohol and little else. The plan had been to order pizza and pasta from Breadsticks for dinner. Rachel couldn't help but wish that she'd held off on the drink Noah had suggested until she'd had food to absorb some of the alcohol. But she'd never thought he would suggest an alcoholic beverage to her.

Puck winced as she retched a third time. He leaned over and awkwardly stroked her back as she hung over the toilet trying to regain her composure. "I'm so sorry, Rach."

She smiled up at him weakly. "Not your fault, Noah," Rachel started slowly up to her feet. "I should know better."

Wincing again, Puck didn't like the fact that Rachel so easily accepted that she shouldn't be able to trust him. Quinn refused to trust him which pretty much killed any chance the two of them had had. And now Rachel. Of course, he knew that up until now he hadn't behaved in a matter that would inspire the people around him to give him the benefit of the doubt.

There was just something about Berry that made him want to be better for her. Made him want to be worthy of her belief in him. He wanted her to count on him, not because he was the only person in the room who could stand her...but because he was the first one she thought of when she was in trouble. But Puck didn't know how to be that person. He'd always been the fuckup, it was all he knew how to do.

"Could you help me back to the other room, please?" she asked softly.

Puck swept her up in his arms, he cradled her snugly to his chest. He set her lightly on the couch so that her head was on the arm and she could stretch out. Not that there was much stretching Rachel Berry could do, she was barely over 5 feet tall. Puck rummaged through the closet in the bathroom until he came across an unopened tooth brush which he opened, wetted, and squeezed a dollop of tooth paste on top.

Rachel was where he'd left here, still as death. "Berry, here, this might make you feel a bit better," Puck said as he held out the tooth brush to her. She looked up at him like he had just made her dreams come true. There was a funny clutching feeling in his chest.

When she was finished with her teeth Puck sat down on the couch, scooping Rachel up so that her head was resting on his thighs. "You're going to be okay, Berry," Puck assured her while stroking the slightly sweaty hair at her temples.

"I know, Noah," she agreed quietly. "You're here."

He inhaled sharply as an unknown feeling stabbed at him. No one but his mother and his sister had ever felt better just because he was there. Puck was afraid this feeling might be addictive. Which scared the shit out of him; he had no idea why Berry felt she could trust him, had no idea what he'd done to deserve it...so how could he do it again? What if he fucked this up? Puck gulped, not liking the idea that he might hurt the fragile girl in his arms.

Puck had been so intent on Rachel and making her comfortable that he hadn't noticed that Quinn and Finn had followed them upstairs. Finn looked like he'd been sucker punched. Quinn looked resigned.

"I just wanted to make sure that Rachel was okay. And not, you know, pregnant," Quinn said in her quietly sarcastic way.

"Damn, damn, damn," Finn kept saying under his breath.

Puck was pissed. "I thought I told you to stay away from her, Finnessa. Go back to Santana, jackass." It was much easier to be upset with Finn than it was to decide what he was feeling in regards to Quinn. He'd thought he was in love with her...

"Noah, please make them go away," Rachel whispered brokenly. She had twisted her head into the hard plane of Noah's stomach, not wanting Finn or Quinn to see her looking as wretched as she felt.

"Okay, Rachel, the big, bad, popular people are leaving. Come on, Finn," Quinn tugged on his sleeve to get him to move back towards the basement.

"No," Finn insisted. "I want to stay," it was said quietly, but firmly.

Rachel's shoulders shook in a muted sob. "Please," she begged Noah.

"Damn it, Finn," Puck stormed, "haven't you done enough for one night? She doesn't want you here."

"Oh, and suddenly she does want you here?" Finn raged. "The guy who slushied her daily for over a year? She wants _you_?"

Rachel looked up, tears sparkling on her lashes. "Yes, I want Noah," she confirmed.

"This is my house! I can go wherever I want," Finn's face was red with hurt and rage. "I love you, Rachel. Please, just give me another chance."

Rachel just looked up at Noah, pleading mutely with him to make Finn go away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to all of you who have alerted, favorited, read, and especially reviewed this story. Reading reviews is the best part of the day for me. This is a nice long one, so hope you enjoy!**

Puck gritted his teeth. He was pretty sure that he and Finn were never going to be okay again. And there was a piece of him that regretted that. But mostly, he was really pissed off that Finn wasn't listening to Rachel and what she wanted.

Puck stood up, moving Rachel gently out of his way. He grabbed a handful of Finn's shirt and dragged him over into the kitchen. "Look, she feels like shit, you need to back off, man," Puck hissed.

"No, I'm not leaving you up here with her," Finn's cheeks were flushed red with anger. Finn looked at Rachel over Puck's shoulder. "Rach...I'm sorry, Rach," he pleaded. "Please..." he broke off when she turned into the couch, away from him.

"Noah?" she called tearfully.

"Yeah, Berry, keep your panties on," Puck returned. Then cursed himself as he heard her sniff loudly at his insensitivity. "Look, I'm sorry, I'll be right back," he said in a conciliatory tone.

"Fine, Puck, I'll go back downstairs. But this is not over, okay?" Finn craned his head trying to see Rachel one last time. Then he headed back downstairs.

On the couch, Rachel visibly relaxed when she heard Finn leave. "N-Noah?" she asked tearily.

"Yeah, I'm coming, Berry," he was standing over her. The defeated slump of her shoulders was really bothering him, he'd never seen Berry give up before. "Look, you can't give Finn that much power over you," Puck reasoned. Lifting her gently, he scooted in under her head and shoulders again.

"Will you hold me?" her eyes were flooded with tears.

There was no way Puck could say no to her right now. He knew this was a mistake, he knew that this was one of those moments when you have a choice and then you had to live with whichever one you made. But Rachel looked beautiful and vulnerable...so really, it wasn't much of a choice.

Sighing, Puck rearranged himself so that he was lying next to her on the sofa. Tucking her head under his chin, he hugged her tightly to his body so they would both fit.

"Th-thank you, Noah," Rachel relaxed into him. Looking up, she blinked sleepily. Closing her eyes again, she was asleep.

Puck watched her sleep. At first, it was peaceful and watching Rachel sleep was such a welcome change from when she was awake. First off, she wasn't talking. Not that he minded that as much as he made out to. Secondly, her face was so peaceful and relaxed; when she was awake Rachel Berry was always in motion. It was nice getting to see her at rest. And he'd read somewhere that you could only fall asleep with someone if you trusted them. It did funny things to his chest to think that she could trust him.

Grinning, he took a strand of her hair and used it to tickle her nose. Rachel reached up and batted at the offending hair then made a totally sexy sleep noise while she settled back against Pucks chest. Still smiling, he stroked her hair back from her face. And because he was Puck, he did it again, almost laughing until her hand missed her nose and smacked into his chin.

Wincing, Puck felt a familiar tightening in his right calf. Puck could feel the tingle that signaled the start of a charlie horse. He tried flexing his leg, to work it out, but nothing he did seemed to help. Berry had only been asleep for fifteen or twenty minutes and Puck didn't want to wake her. But he had to move his leg.

"Berry?" Puck whispered. "Rachel? Honey, wake up," he entreated quietly.

Rachel stirred sleepily. She felt warm, safe, and didn't want to wake up. But someone kept saying her name.

"Rachel, hon, please get up," Puck said a little louder this time. His leg was fucking killing him and he needed to get up and walk on it.

Opening her eyes cautiously, she saw Noah above her. Confused and thinking she was dreaming, Rachel did what she usually did in her dreams with Noah. She tilted her head up so that his lips were within reach and pressed hers open-mouthed against his.

Pain melted away and instinct took over as Puck slanted his mouth more fully against Berry's. He explored her mouth with his tongue, almost tentatively. Like he expected at any moment for Berry to realize it was just Puck and push him away. His hands brushed over her ribcage, feathering lightly over her silky top. Fingers tingling, they felt almost as if they'd been electrified by their contact with her.

Getting impatient because dream Noah was usually more aggressive, Rachel grabbed one of Noah's hands and pushed it closer to her breast. She moaned softly into his mouth when he palmed her small breast. "Oh, God, Noah," she gasped raggedly, "more."

Puck tried to quickly unbutton Berry's blouse, he wanted to touch her breast without the barrier of clothing. Oddly, Puck was having trouble working the buttons on her shirt. He was shocked when he noticed that his hand was trembling. Trying to make it stop, Puck clenched his hand into a fist and then released it.

Looking down to make sure his hand was back under his own control now, he almost sighed with relief when he saw his hand; steady as a rock. Puck made quick work of the rest of Berry's buttons.

Rachel lifted her shoulders, allowing Noah to slide her blouse back and down her arms. Noah moved so that he was over her, looking down into her eyes. It made Rachel feel shy and her lashes fluttered closed. But she couldn't bear to keep them that way for long. She wanted to look at Noah, she liked seeing the fiery look in his eyes when he looked at her. So, she peeked at him from under her lashes.

Puck had his hand behind Berry's back and had her bra unhooked in less than fifteen seconds. Gently, he pulled her bra away and just enjoyed the sight of her pert breasts. Leaning down, he took one nipple into his mouth. Berry whimpered as he ran his tongue over the quickly hardening tip. Taking her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, Puck kneaded her flesh until Berry began moaning his name.

Rachel's mind was completely caught up in the pleasure that dream Noah was giving her body. This was the best, most erotic dream she'd ever had. Ever. She reached a hand down between Noah's legs and traced his erection with her fingers.

Puck hissed with pleasure. "I can take those off for you, Berry," he rasped in her ear. Much to his surprise, Berry looked up at him with passion filled brown eyes and simply nodded. Ripping at the button, Puck didn't even bother to unzip his jeans as he yanked them down his body. Berry was tugging his shirt over his arms and then his head.

Usually, Rachel would have woken up by now. It almost scared her how much she wanted to give in to dream Noah and how much she wanted to please him. But right now, she didn't care why she was still asleep and dreaming of the most erotic night of her life. And she planned to enjoy every minute of it.

Dipping her hand into Noah's boxer briefs, Rachel explored his flesh. Eyes widening as she realized that things were much larger than she'd imagined. But also softer. She hadn't thought that something so hard could be so velvety. Especially the tip of him. Rachel grasped the length in her hand and experimentally stroked him.

Grabbing Berry's hips, Puck buried his head in her neck to stifle the moans he couldn't keep in. "Shit, yes, Berry," Puck groaned. Wanting to make her feel as good as he did, Puck pulled Berry's skirt up and prodded her lightly on the ass so she'd lift her hips so that he could maneuver them off of her.

Running his finger slowly down her slit, Puck was gratified to discover that Rachel Berry was soaked. He ran his finger through the moisture seeping out onto her thigh. Slowly, he dipped his finger between the warm folds of skin between her legs. Exploring her, he found a spot that made her shudder and a spot that made her moan his name. With a grin, Puck alternated between the two until Berry was clinging to him.

"Please, Noah, please," Rachel moaned, her head lolling back and forth. All of her concentration was reserved for the boy on the couch with her.

"Please, what, Berry?" Puck asked, his thumb finding her clit and then stroking her gently.

She thrashed back and forth. "I-I don't know," she looked up at him in confusion. "Please, Noah," she begged. "Please, whatever it is," she breathed.

Puck had never seen Berry look more beautiful; her face was flushed with pleasure, her eyes were shining with passion, and her voice was husky with want. He smiled down at her. More than happy to oblige, he flicked her clit with his thumb. Puck was awed when her entire body writhed in pleasure.

"More, please, oh," Rachel gasped the last because Noah slid his index finger inside her. Instinct took over then, she bucked against his hand. "Yes," she hissed.

Puck wanted Rachel Berry; he was so turned on, so hard, it was painful. And all he really wanted was to part her thighs and sink inside her until they were both insensible.

There was something that Berry had said earlier that was pinging around his brain. She'd asked him if this is what sex was like. But Finn had told him that she and Jesse had had sex...so why didn't she already know what sex was like? Damn it, when did he start thinking when he was having sex.

It was not that he'd figured out that Berry was still a virgin. He really had no problem with that; actually, he was happier than he had a right that she hadn't given it up to St. Jackass. She'd have been better off giving it to Finnessa than that Jesse kid. The problem was, Puck could not handle it if she hated him. Hell, he didn't even want her mad at him.

Puck made the decision then that he'd wait. This was one of the few times that Puck could remember where he was doing what felt right instead of what felt good. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. But hopefully, this meant he and Berry could have something in the future. Otherwise, Puck was going to be kicking himself for a long, long time.

He knew this meant he wasn't getting any tonight but he didn't want Rachel thinking he'd gotten her drunk so that he could have sex with her. But he also didn't want Berry thinking that he didn't want her. Seriously, sex wasn't usually this complicated. Deciding that stopping would be cruel, he leaned down and took her nipple back into his mouth.

Using his fingers in her sweet, wet body and his mouth on her nipple, it didn't take long until Berry was clinging to him like a monkey on a tree. Puck sped up his fingers until Rachel was moaning and begging unintelligibly. Flicking his thumb over her clit again and again Puck enjoyed her gasps and how she clung to him. Like he was the one she could trust to make everything better.

Suddenly, she tensed underneath him and he could feel her muscles contract around his finger. She bucked one last time against his hand, the nails she had dug into his shoulders losing their purchase.

Rachel looked up at Noah, the boy she so frequently cast as the knight in shining armor in her dreams and smiled softly. "I love you," she mumbled as her eyes fluttered shut and she fell asleep under him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you again for all the alerts, favorites, and reviews. I love reviews. There is another 'downstairs' chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon, it's proving difficult to write. Let me know what you think.**

Finn was a mess. This is not how any of tonight was supposed to have gone. He and Rachel should have spent most of the night hanging out: talking, laughing, and making out. Instead, here he was sitting on the last step in the basement, alone, drinking a beer. To make matters worse, he didn't even like beer.

Santana and Brittany were laughing, looking over the take-out menu for Breadsticks. It didn't seem to upset Santana at all that the little bomb she'd dropped had completely ruined his life.

Pissed off, Finn stood up and walked over to Santana. "Can we talk?" he asked.

Santana looked up, gave a small smirk, "No," and turned back to Brittany.

"Look, I just want to know why you had to tell her...I don't get it, Santana. I know you don't want to date me," he shrugged helplessly.

"You're right, I don't want to date you. But I don't want RuPaul always going after my leftovers. I needed to show her that it's not cool. First Puck, then you," she sighed," now Puck again."

"Gee, Santana, maybe if you said 'no' every once in a while there would be fewer 'leftovers'," Quinn stated.

Santana looked at Quinn with narrowed eyes. "Okay, Preggers, I don't really think you should be one to talk," she flipped her pony tail. "Next, she'll think that she can hang out with us, oh wait, I guess tonight proves she thinks she can. Nobody wants her here except for Finn, anyway," she concluded angrily.

"I kinda like Rachel," Brittany confessed. "I think her choice to be a veterinarian is kind of cool. I thought about it, but I like soy dogs too much to give them up," she said, adding an emphatic nod at the end.

Santana gave Brittany an acid look. "Brit, shut up," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Look, Santana, I don't get it...you asked me to have sex. You said it was win-win for you. I don't care about anyone else, but why did you have to tell Rachel?" Finn asked again, clearly unhappy with her first response.

"Look, I got Sue off my back by dating a younger guy and it was great for my image. And now I get to piss off Rachel Berry," she smiled slyly, "I guess I was wrong. It's a win-win-win for me," her voice dripping with self-satisfaction.

"Christ, Santana," Finn his hands roughly through his hair.

"Hey, you weren't complaining at the time," she protested.

Finn figured out that there had been no 'good' reason for Santana to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, she was just being bitchy. She didn't want Finn anymore and she didn't want Rachel to have him either.

"Look, Finn," Mercedes spoke up, "if you really want to have something with Rachel, then you're going to have to fight for her."

"She wants Puck," Finn almost moaned. "Rachel told me to go away. How do you fight for someone when they don't want to be in the same room with you?"

"Obviously, you don't," Kurt said simply. "I'm sure that you'll find someone else. There are plenty of fish in the sea, right?"

"Kurt, I told you, I don't fish in that sea," Finn smiled awkwardly, not wanting to offend Kurt, but seriously not interested in...well, being anything more than something brotherly or friendly with Kurt.

Kurt sighed deeply, "I _know_ that Finn. I'm just saying, if you want her, you have to show her she can trust you. And if you're not willing to put in the effort, you need to let her go and look beyond the inimitable Miss Berry for companionship."

"Oh," Finn replied in a soft voice. "What does inimitable mean?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed, "Look it up, what do I look like, a dictionary? I don't think Marc Jacobs is in for dictionaries this season," Kurt waved his hands across his body to indicate he was indeed fashionably dressed.

"Whatever," he sighed, mouth turned down at the corners. "I just thought we'd be together, you know. I got used to her talking all the time."

"I'm not sure that fighting for her is going to work right now, Finn," Quinn said sympathetically. "Guys, I really don't think that Rachel is interested in anything that has Finn at all involved right now. She was pretty adamant that the only person she wanted was Puck."

"Fine, don't listen to me," Kurt said airily and went to wrestle one of the game controllers from Matt.

"Hey, when are we going to order the pizza?" Matt grumbled, clearly not happy to relinquish the controller to Kurt.

"Yeah, dude, I'm starving," Mike added.

Finn sighed, he really wasn't interested in food right now. But he supposed it was his job to make his company happy. "Just let me know what everyone wants and I'll call it in," he offered grudgingly.

Seeing how upset Finn still was Mercedes thought if she could give him an update it might make Finn feel better about what was happening with Rachel. "How about I go up and check on her?" Mercedes offered.

Finn smiled slightly. "Yeah, that would be awesome, Mercedes, thanks."

Mercedes climbed the stairs. Her eyes flew wide at the sight of Rachel Berry sprawled, sleeping, on top of Puck. Rachel was wearing pink lace panties and knee highs; Puck was wearing black boxer briefs. "Aw, shit," she muttered softly, "Finn is not going to like this."


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, so this one is pretty smutty. Hope you enjoy. I don't own Glee or the characters. Thank you to everyone who reads, alerts, favorites, and especially those who take the time to leave a review. I quite enjoy reading your thoughts on the story.**

"I love you." Shit, was this a nightmare or something? Puck just kept hearing those words over and over. Rachel Berry saying "I love you." Chicks did not love Puck. They liked him, lusted after him, wanted him to do things for them...to them...they did not love him. And if they did they certainly weren't stupid enough to tell him they did.

He was going to have to shut Berry down hard. But for some reason he couldn't seem to muster up enough will to even wake her up. In an effort to make her more comfortable, Puck had rotated them until she was lying on top of him. She was so small and he didn't want to crush her. For the past fifteen minutes he'd just watched her sleep. Daintily snoring against his chest. Never having actually slept with a chick he hadn't known how cute they were asleep. Or maybe it was just Berry with her hands curled into fists, and her hair that seemed to be all over the place, and the way every few minutes her hand would stroke across his chest like she had to feel him to reassure herself that he was still there.

And then the "I love you," chorus would start in his head again. Shit. Did she mean it? Was she just drunk and talking crap? Maybe she'd never had an orgasm before; Puck was a stud after all. Most of the females he'd been with regularly called him 'God' so maybe a declaration of love wasn't too far off the mark. Yeah, that had to be it, Puck thought. Because there was no way that Rachel Berry, future Broadway star, could ever love a Lima Loser like Puck.

Rachel stirred, feeling more relaxed than she had since they'd won Sectionals. "Noah?" she whispered, not wanting to wake him if he was sleeping. She remembered them making out, then him doing something spectacular with his hands. Thoughts of that made her blush hotly. And then...oh no, did she actually tell Noah Puckerman that she loved him? Her first thought was that he'd tell everyone and she'd be humiliated.

No, Noah hadn't done anything but be nice to her since they'd dated. Even after she'd broken up with him he'd been almost sweet to her. Noah wouldn't do anything to purposely humiliate her. She smiled softly, Noah was safe. Who would have thought her heart was safer with him than with Finn? Her smile faltered, thinking about Finn hurt.

Unsure if Noah was asleep, faking sleep, or just being quiet, Rachel continued to repose on Noah's slowly breathing form. "Noah?" she whispered again. Still no response. Rachel scrunched herself up a little so that she could see his face. He looked so peaceful, but she was pretty sure that he wasn't really sleeping.

Puck startled when Rachel leaned down and pressed her mouth against his jaw. But he was resolved that he wouldn't respond. He knew that Rachel Berry had the power to break his heart and he was a little scared by that. And just like that, Puck was back to wondering how Berry could think that she loved him.

Grinning, Rachel started kissing down Noah's jaw to his neck. From his neck she took her time raining kisses down his chest to his stomach.

Rachel had always been a sucker for a guy with well-toned abs. They made her weak in the knees. Being able to take as much time as she wanted licking and nibbling each indentation of Noah's six-pack was almost as intoxicating as alcohol.

Puck groaned. What in the hell was she doing? His dick was hard as fuck. If she didn't stop soon he was going to flip them over and screw her until she was screaming his name. He slitted his eyes so that he could watch her; her little pink tongue was exploring the skin just under his navel. Shit, she wasn't...

Pulling on Noah's boxer briefs, Rachel was gratified to find a beautiful specimen of manhood waiting for her. It was almost as good as opening a present on the first night of Hanukah. Noah was perfect: long, hard and thick-but not scary, what more could a girl ask for? She managed to get the underwear past his hips after a minute of wrangling with the material.

Mischievously, Rachel looked up at Noah from under her lashes. He kept lifting his hands and fisting them and then slamming them back down next to him. She wasn't sure, but she thought that was probably a good sign.

Very softly, Rachel blew across the tip of Noah's erection. She almost laughed when she heard him give a strangled "Gah!" Instead she placed a kiss just under the head. She blushed when it jumped a little under her mouth. "I didn't know they could do that," she said impishly.

"Berry, you're going to find out a lot of things you didn't know before if you keep this up," Puck growled. It was taking all of his self-control to keep from burying his hands in her hair and showing her exactly what he'd like for her to do with that warm, wet mouth.

"Oh?" she asked innocently. Then she licked him from the base straight up to the tip. "Miss Pillsbury said that I'd be grateful someday that I didn't have a gag reflex," she bit her lower lip. "B-But I didn't know what she meant, so I-I looked it up," her tongue flicked across him and then lapped slowly at the drop of moisture collecting at the top.

"Berry, do you know what you're doing to me right now? Because I am only human," Puck ground out.

"I was just saying that I could do this," and then Rachel Berry opened her mouth and all but swallowed the entire length of Puck's erection.

She looked up at him again, kneeling between his legs, with him buried in her throat and Puck knew this was going to end quickly. He reached his hand down to stroke her cheek. Rachel closed her eyes, looking like she was enjoying his touch but then she began slowly moving her mouth up and down on him and conscious thought evaporated.

"Oh, shit, Berry," Puck moaned.

Rachel continued slowly moving up and down on Noah. She loved the way he was thrashing and swearing; it gave her a heady sense of power that she could reduce the mighty Noah Puckerman to almost begging.

According to her research, the way Noah's testicles were tightening into his body meant he was close to a climax. She hadn't decided whether she would let him come in her mouth; it honestly sounded disgusting, but you never knew until you tried, right? She looked up and could see Noah's six-pack clearly defined as he arched back.

"Fuck," Puck said in a strangled whisper just as Rachel pulled back, her hand taking the place of her mouth. Her small hand gripped him tightly, her fist pumping him quickly. "Fuck," this time it was a hiss as he spilled himself on her hand.

"It wouldn't be fair of me to not take care of you the way you took care of me," Rachel informed him softly.

"I like fair," Puck agreed, chest still heaving.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry it took so long to update, I seem to be having some writers block. Hope you like. Thanks again for all the alerts, favorites, and reviews! You guys are truly wonderful.**

He was pretty sure that this was a record; Berry hadn't said anything for eight minutes. She hadn't asked if they were in a 'relationship' or how he felt about her or even just yammered on with whatever came to the top of her head. Truthfully, he was kind of enjoying just laying with her on the couch.

"You know, I was thinking..."

Puck sighed, he knew it couldn't last. "Yeah, Berry?"

"Well, I thought 'Mary had a Little Lamb' would be good for our mash-up, maybe working off of the part about rules. But I just can't think of a good song with the word rules in it that might go with it," she craned her head around so she could look Noah in the face. "What do you think?"

Puck grinned, only crazy Berry would be thinking about songs for school on a Friday night, half-drunk, and within ten minutes of giving a mind-altering blow job. "That could work, let me think about it, I'm sure there are lots of songs that deal with rule breaking."

She snuggled back into his chest with a contented sigh. "I suppose we have time," she concluded.

"So, did you want to talk...? About anything?" Puck asked. He wasn't sure why, he'd just opened his mouth and out came some touchy-feely crap. "I mean, we don't have to. We could just stay here," he shrugged.

Rachel sighed. "No, we should probably leave or rejoin our fellow Glee clubbers," her lip curled a little at that just before she pasted another one of her million watt smiles on her face. "Let's go lazy bones," she swatted his thigh as she got up to put her clothes back on.

"Damn, woman, can't a guy just relax? I mean, that was pretty awesome," Puck admitted quietly. "I don't know if I want to go back down and let everyone shit on my good mood."

Biting her lip, Rachel began fastening the buttons up the front of her shirt. "O-okay, Noah." There were tears in her eyes when she looked down at her outfit. "I think I should get home anyway," she smiled tremulously, "I mean, everyone will just look at me and know what we were doing."

It bothered Puck that he wasn't sure if Berry didn't want the Glee club to know what they'd been up to...or if she didn't want Finn to know what they'd been up to. He really hoped it was the former because the thought that she cared that much about what Finn thought made him want to put his fist through a wall.

"Would that be so bad?" Puck asked cautiously.

"Well, I don't want the whole Glee club to think that I'm a slut!" she replied emphatically. She looked down at the floor. "Not that what just happened between us makes me a slut. I don't know what this is, Noah. I'm sorry, I guess I'm being a little uptight."

Puck took in a deep breath. "Look, Berry, I like you."

Rachel looked up with a smile, "I like you too, Noah."

Puck's brows drew down. "No, I mean, I _like_ you, Berry," his voice was muffled sounding.

"Oh," Rachel looked up at Noah with wide brown eyes. "Oh," she repeated in a small voice. "So, this was more than just a 'hook-up' for you?"

Puck winced slightly and then covered it with a smirk. "Nah, course not. I'm just here to help the ladies," he brazened. God, he felt sick to his stomach. He didn't know if it was the lie or the fact that Rachel Berry had just used him for almost-sex. But this conversation felt just like the one in the bleachers when she'd dumped him.

"Oh," her eyes downcast.

"Unless..." Puck began. He swallowed the rest of it, he didn't want to sound like a mangina. And he really didn't want Berry to know he did not in any way consider what had just happened as 'just a hook-up.'

"Yes, Noah?" her eyes were on him now.

He shook his head, "Nothing, Berry." Puck pulled his boxer briefs back on and then his pants which were followed quickly by his t-shirt. She was right, her top and skirt were totally wrinkled, they both looked like they'd been messing around.

"B-because, I didn't," she said, eyes downcast. Looking up, "I didn't think of this as a hook-up. I do like you Noah. A lot," she said softly, brown eyes steadily on him. "But I sort of thought maybe this was for you...just a hook-up," she finished hurriedly.

Puck took a breath as the band that had been constricting his chest lifted. Before he had a chance to continue they heard someone coming up the stairs.

"So, Puck, got virgin?" Santana snarked as soon as she saw them.

"No, Santana," Puck groused.

"Oh, RuPaul wasn't a virgin?" Santana raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"I was!" Rachel hissed, then grimaced. "Am!"

Santana laughed. "Whatever, loser." She flipped her pony tail, dismissing Rachel as she turned to Puck. "Here's the money, you can go pick up the order from Breadsticks," she shoved a few twenties into his hand. She looked like she was about to say something but then changed her mind after running a critical eye over the two of them.

Puck grabbed Rachel's hand, glad to be leaving with her. "C'mon, Rach."

"Hey, Man Hands," Santana called after them. "Look, I'm sorry," she said while cocking her head to the side. "About earlier. I shouldn't have brought it up."

Rachel turned to look at Santana. "No, I'm glad you did, Santana. I'm glad that I found out that Finn lied to me before it was about something important," she shrugged. "It was just such a stupid thing to lie about," she grimaced slightly.

"Yeah, well, he was upset because he'd just found out about you lying to him about you and Jesse still dating," Santana explained. "All I'm saying is, you may want to cut him some slack."

Rachel flushed, she'd forgotten the whole stupid thing had started with her lie. "Thank you, Santana. I'll...I'll take that under advisement," she smiled slightly. "Come on, Noah, let's go get dinner."


	14. Chapter 14

**It amazes me how some chapters seem to require a blood sacrifice to get done and some of them almost write themselves. This was an easy one for me, it was fun. **

**It's been a while since I mentioned that I do not own or profit from Glee or its characters in any way. Except for the awesome reviews I get from you! Thanks for reading everyone.**

Rachel pressed her lips together, wishing she'd grabbed her purse so she could reapply her lip gloss. She did not regret the events leading up to her loss of lip gloss though, she thought, blushing. But she was concerned that Noah did because he had been very quiet since they'd gotten in his truck.

"N-Noah?" she said, biting her lip.

"Yeah, Berry," he responded gruffly. Puck still hadn't started the engine, he was just sitting in the drivers seat with the keys in his hand.

"Is everything okay?"

Sighing, Puck turned to her. "I want to know what I should expect?"

Rachel looked at Noah, flabbergasted. "I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

"I heard what Santana said. And I want to know if that means you're going to be back with Finn by the end of tonight," Puck ran his hand over his shaved head.

Biting her lip again, Rachel thought for a second. "I don't think Finn and I were meant to be. It shouldn't be this hard for two people to date...not if it's meant to be. R-right?"

Puck closed his eyes, "Yeah," he said shortly.

"Isn't that how it was with you and Quinn?" she looked over at him. "I mean, you love each other, you had a baby together, but everything is just so complicated..."

"Yeah, but I'm not _in_ love with Quinn," his look was skeptical, "I'm not sure if you're in love with Finn."

Rachel swallowed loudly. "Oh," it came out incredibly softly. "I d-don't know, Noah. I do love him," she admitted softly. "But how do you know if you're _in_ love," she asked desperately.

Raising his shoulders in a shrug of defeat, Puck shook his head sadly and put the keys in the ignition. He stayed quiet for the trip to Breadsticks, not speaking again until they'd pulled into the parking lot. "I just want you to know," he began. His eyes got wide as something outside Rachel's window caught his eye.

"What?" Rachel asked, concerned. She glanced over her shoulder to see what it was that Noah was upset about. "Oh, no," she sighed.

"Does he have a tracking device in your panties, Berry? Shit," Puck swore.

Jacob bin Israel was standing next to Pucks car with his face pressed to the window, licking it and making whimpering sounds.

Puck's face was livid. "Listen Fuckhole, if you don't get your mouth off my truck I'm going to flush your jewfro head in the fucking toilet."

"Oh, gross," Rachel moaned. Jacob was pretending to kiss Rachel through the glass, mouth open and with lots of tongue. "Generally, I'm in favor of nonviolent means...but I'm going to make an exception for him. Give me the money and just make him be gone by the time I'm back with the food," Rachel pleaded weakly.

"Yeah, okay, Berry," Puck said with a tight grin. He fished into his front jean pocket for the money and frowned when he came up empty handed.

Rachel grinned, reached across the truck and stuck her hand into his other front pocket, fumbled around and came up with the twenties. "Sometimes, it takes a woman's touch," she smiled.

Jacob, having seen what Rachel's hand disappear in the vicinity of Puck's crotch began whining outside the truck. "Rachel, no, you're mine," he cried.

"I think I'm getting out on your side of the truck," she said firmly. She waited for him to get out of her way, when he didn't seem inclined to be helpful she frowned at him.

"Please move?" she asked nicely.

"Nah, I'm good," Puck grinned impishly, "You want out, you can climb over me."

Composing herself, Rachel smoothed her skirt down, brushed her hair back, and then scooted herself over next to him. Getting onto her knees, she pressed a kiss to Noah's cheek while she slid one leg over his lap.

Puck hugged her close, "Maybe I'll go easy on Jewfro this time. I could get used to this," he smiled and leaned forward to kiss her mouth lightly.

Rachel grinned and ground herself into his lap. "Do you think that if we made out he'd get the hint and go away?"

"Berry, if you don't stop that, you're going to find out," Puck groaned. He grabbed her face in his hands and settled his lips on hers softly, brushing her mouth with his until she opened her mouth to him. Gently, he explored her mouth with his tongue.

Shivering with desire, Rachel pulled away from Noah. She blinked her eyes sleepily, trying to refocus. "Pizza. Cold. Get."

The sexy laugh that escaped from Noah made Rachel moan. She didn't care about the food, she just wanted more kissing, she lifted her face so that he could continue.

"Out, wench," he teased. "Get me food, I'm a growing boy."

Rachel slid herself up and down Noah's lap, "Why, yes, you are. And you're growing in all the right places." As she seemed to hear what she'd just said, a blush spread across her face. A burst of pleasure burst through her as she felt the warm huff of air against her cheek from his surprised laugh.

Jacob was still making out with the window and crying out "No, you're mine!" and then "I'll take you back, Rachel. We're meant to be," every once in a while.

"You know, if he weren't so creepy, it might be funny," Rachel noted.

"Yeah, but that boy...he went right past funny to psycho," Puck agreed.

"Okay, I'm really going to get the food this time. No fair tempting me with your body," she closed her eyes and forced herself to be still.

"Fine, but you owe me some hot making out later," he countered.

"O-okay," Rachel agreed. She climbed the rest of the way over his lap and opened the door. "But no Jacob when I get back, right?" she asked in a mock serious voice.

"Promise," Puck put up his hands in a 'Scouts honor' hand gesture.

"I'm just glad he's not smart enough to have moved over to this side of the truck when I did," she whispered.

Rachel's eyes flew to Noah's when the truck began rocking in a disturbing rhythm. Her hand flew over her mouth to stifle a nervous giggle when Jacob began moaning.

"Dude, if you don't stop humping my truck I'm going to break your face," Puck threatened as he and Rachel exited the truck from the drivers side door. "Seriously, I'm about this close," he put his thumb and forefinger together, "to fucking you up."

#######################

Rachel came back from her foray into Breadsticks laden with four large pizzas, two large salads, and some orders of pasta. She breathed a hearty sigh of relief when she didn't spot Jacob anywhere nearby.

She knocked on the glass near Noah's face. "Can you get the door?" she asked.

Puck leaned over and opened her door for her. Realizing that she might need help, he opened his own door and sprinted around his vehicle to hold the food while she got into the truck. "Sorry, I guess I should have waited. But I was afraid that I was going to go after that guy and kick his ass."


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for all of the great reviews! Thanks to everyone for reading, alerting, and favoriting this story, it really means the world to me. **

Finn glared at Santana, he'd asked her to have Puck drive her to pick dinner up. He was a little pissed that she'd ignored him, he'd wanted a chance to speak with Rachel without Puck jumping down his throat.

They'd been gone for thirty minutes, which was longer than it took Finn to go to and from Breadsticks. Finn waited for them to come down the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest and a stony look on his face.

"Dude, get the fuck over it already," Puck scoffed. He knew that Fin was going to try to screw this up for him and Rachel just by the asshole look on his face. Well, St. Finneus has fucked it up for himself without help from Puck this time. And Puck was ready to fight for Rachel...as dirty as he had to.

Puck and Rachel set the food down on the bar. He picked up a bottle of vodka and offered her a drink. Laughing when she shuddered and gave him a violent head shake.

"No, thanks, Noah. I think I've had all the alcohol I can stomach for one evening," she batted her eyes up at him, grinning. "Actually, it turned out to be more alcohol than I could handle, didn't it?"

Puck just laughed in response and grabbed a beer out of the small fridge for himself. Seeing a bottle of sparkling water he pulled it out and offered it to Rachel who accepted with a small squeal of delight.

"Hey, Rach, can we talk?" Finn interrupted hesitantly.

Rachel gave him a small smile, "Sure, Finn." She waited for him to begin. Looking around, she saw that the room was quiet and Noah looked like she'd kicked him in his man parts. "Or, we could go somewhere else?" she asked, raising her eye brows.

"Yeah, yeah, that would be better I think," Finn agreed. He led her back up the stairs and motioned for her to sit on the couch.

Rachel set the bottle of water on the counter, gave Puck an apologetic smile, and followed Finn up the stairs. She was starting to feel like she'd come to a stair climbing party she'd been up and down them so many times tonight.

Sitting down where he'd indicated, Rachel smoothed her skirt down over her thighs and tried not to think of the naughty things she'd done on the couch with Noah earlier.

Which meant that as soon as she was consciously trying to not think of those naughty things...she did. Swallowing with difficulty, she pressed her thighs together and bit her lip to stifle the small moan those thoughts engendered.

"I've been thinking, Rachel," Finn began, "and I think that we could start over. You know, fresh. Like I never lied to you and you never lied to me," he suggested with the sweet half-grin that would have won her over three hours ago.

"I've been thinking too Finn," Rachel said calmly. "I-I don't think this is going to work out. Between you and me. It's too much work..." her voice trailed off when she saw the look of pain cross his face. She didn't want him to hurt.

Finn swallowed hard and squinched his eyes shut. "Look, Rachel, I know things have been weird lately," he took her arm, "but I really like you."

"Oh, Finn. I like you too," she said with a sad smile. "But I don't think that 'like' is enough in this situation."

"I'm going to fight for you, Rachel," he vowed.

"No, I really don't think that you will," tears started to gather on her lashes. "You've never really fought for me, Finn. A-and that's okay," she tried to remove his hand from her arm as gently as possible.

"Hey, I sang 'Jesse's Girl' in Glee club. I did fight for you," he protested.

"Yes, on a day that Jesse wasn't in school," she pointed out softly.

"I'll show you, Rach, please," Finn pleaded, his voice thick with unshed tears. "I swear, I want to be with you. I want you to be with me too."

"But, you wouldn't even fight Brittany and Santana to be my partner for our Glee assignment in class today, so how am I supposed to believe that you'd fight for me? Why would I think that I'm important to you?" Rachel's voice cracked at the very end.

"What do you want from me, then? All I can do is promise that I'll try." Finn looked down at Rachel, his eyes full of remorse. "I'm sorry that I slept with Santana. I'm sorry that I almost slept with her again," his voice sounded defeated.

"I don't think you should be," she smiled up at him sadly. "I think that we had a time when this could have worked...I just don't think that it's now."

Finn put his head in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at her with shiny eyes, "Okay, Rachel, if this is what you want," he looked away from her as he said it, "I'll respect your choice."

"I-Thank you, Finn. I know this might be hard," she put her hand over his and gave a slight squeeze. "You may not believe me, but I'd like to still be friends?" she said, but it came out as a question. "I know it's the most cliche line in the world, but I really would. But only if you're okay with it," she smiled.

"I dunno, Rachel," Finn had his head down, "I don't think I want to go through that again," he admitted.

"Well, I'm glad that we can still be honest with each other," Rachel stood up. "Noah and I-"

"No!" Finn yelled. "Do not tell me that you and fucking Puck are dating," he seethed, slamming his hand down on the coffee table next to the couch. "It hasn't even been two hours for Gods sake!" he was screaming at her with such rage that he was actually spitting.

Rachel took a step back, concerned by this display of temper. "F-finn?"

Finn's cheeks were red with temper and his breathing was rough from his emotions. He crumpled into a ball, sinking into the couch. His eyes were full of recrimination and tears.

Which Rachel thought was fitting, it seemed to her that their every attempt at a relationship was just full of recrimination and tears. She gave him some space to cool down, just sat with him on the couch while his breathing slowed and he returned to a more usual color.

"Jesus, I'm sorry, Rachel," Finn said, his eyes pleading with her for forgiveness. "I can't believe I did that. It's just after the Quinn thing...Fuck, I'm really screwing this up," he laughed bitterly.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel put up a hand to stop him from speaking. "I want us to be friends. But if that is too much for you to handle, I understand," her tone was placating.

Then she looked up at him, her brown eyes like frozen chunks of earth. "But if we're not dating, then I'm free to see whomever I chose. Is that clear?"

Finn took a step back, what the hell happened to sweet little, pushover Rachel? "Uh, yeah, okay, Rach," he gave her a tight grin, hoping she'd see it as an alls-well sign. "Whatever you say, crazy lady."

Rachel gave a snort of laughter and then her eyes flew wide when she realized she'd just snorted in front of Finn. "Crazy lady? Me? Really?"

"Yeah," he said nodding, "you gotta admit, you're not exactly firmly planted on your rocker."

"Finn Hudson, that's a horrible thing to say," Rachel stated and then stuck her elbow into his ribs.

"Ow, hey, that hurt," Finn protested, laughing.

"I should hope so," she replied with a grin.

"Friends?" Finn asked softly.

"Friends," she affirmed. "Can we go back downstairs, cause I'm starving?" she whined at him.

"Jeez, Rach, you're such a complainer. How did I not notice this before?" Finn wondered out loud.

"I'm not a complainer, Finn. I'm an extremely talented individual who is not adverse to demanding their fair share of attention," she countered. Then she stuck her tongue out at him.

Finn stretched his hand out to help her off the sofa. "Come on," he made a face at her, "your _boyfriend_ is probably worried that I'm turning you into a hussy or something."

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Finn and giggled. "I'm not generally in favor of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. But I think in regards to that couch and my introduction to the world of hussydom, we'll go with it."

"Oh, Rachel, ew. I watch tv on that couch," Finn whined. Quietly, Finn sighed. This was not what he'd wanted. It definitely wasn't how he'd pictured tonight going. But he supposed he could do worse than have Rachel Berry as a friend, he thought as they descended the stairs.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry, I've been MIA for so long. I was sort of bummed by the first few episodes this season and my muse seemed to have completely deserted me...but it looks like inspiration is back. **

**I really appreciate those of you who have stuck around to see how this was going to turn out, I hope this newest chapter does not disappoint. It's strange coming back to this after so long, it's almost like reading something that isn't mine. **

Puck couldn't help it; he was happy. When Rachel walked back down those stairs and gave him a hug, he thought he was going to burst. He just hoped that this didn't mean he was going to grow a vagina, because he was sure Rachel was into dudes.

Finn, he saw, headed off into a corner and tossed back two shots of whiskey. Which, considering Finn was a social drinker, was a bit surprising. But there was only so much thinking about his best friend he wanted to do tonight. He'd much rather concentrate on Rachel.

She looked relaxed, much more so than he'd ever seen her. Her smile was huge, megawatt, and genuine. Puck thought there were definitely worse things than getting lost in the smile of Rachel Berry. Other than a poorly developed fashion sense, she was damn near perfect; hot body, smart, sweet as hell and probably the most talented person he'd ever met. And she wanted him, Noah Puckerman, Lima loser and resident bad boy.

It felt like he'd won the lottery.

She was serving herself salad and offering some to Brittany. The girls sat at bar stools and talked about inconsequential things while they ate. Rachel thought it was nice to have someone to talk to; even if it was Brittany and her take on things didn't always make perfect sense. The girl didn't have a malicious bone in her body, which is what made her such a good balance to Santana, Rachel mused.

Puck leaned against a wall watching his girl eat her pasta with a small smile on his face. He really hoped that some of his friends would come around and accept her and their newly developing relationship. Underneath all of that drama queen exterior was a very sensitive girl who just wanted to be liked for herself.

Approaching Rachel when she seemed to be finished with her meal, he placed his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. Amazingly, she fit under his arm perfectly, he leaned down and nuzzled her hair, planting a kiss at her crown. She smelled awesome, he wasn't sure what it was, other than something flowery, probably organic and certified to help kids from third world countries or some shit. But that was just Rachel Berry for you.

"Brit, you being nice to my girl?" Puck asked teasingly.

"I didn't know that you were dating Rachel. I thought she was dating Finn?" Brittany wondered in her rather spacy way. "Did you know if you put Finn and Rachel together you would get Finchel? Isn't that a kind of bird that miners use to see if there are deadly gases? That doesn't sound like a healthy name for a relationship. Maybe it's better if he doesn't date her," she mused in between bites of pizza.

"Brit, I don't think I've ever seen you eat a whole piece of pizza in one sitting," Puck mentioned.

"Oh, well, Coach Sylvester said we could eat whatever we wanted at a party as long as we drank enough to puke it back up," Brittany answered, nodding her head confidingly.

Puck couldn't understand how any of the Cheerios managed to survive on the pearls of advice spewed by Coach Sylvester. Upon further thought, he figured this was one of those touchy-feely subjects and since he wasn't dating Brittany-Puck decided it was none of his business and left it alone. Shrugging softly, he pulled Rachel in closer to his body. "Hey, you want to get out of here?" he whispered in her ear.

Looking up at Noah, delighted, Rachel simply nodded. "I'll get my sweater," she whispered back, smiling at him softly.

"Where are you guys going?" Santana asked with a raised eye brow.

Rachel looked at Santana apprehensively. She'd thought that they'd called a truce earlier; perhaps she'd been hasty in her assessment. "Noah and I are heading home," she stated simply.

The cheerleader looked her up and down rather scathingly, as if she didn't see the appeal. "Whatever," she said, a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Finn?" Rachel said softly as she approached one of her hosts. "Noah and I are going to head out, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, Rach," he slurred slightly. "I'll see you at school on Monday." Finn was very much looking forward to Rachel and Noah leaving, he wanted to ditch his own party and hide. Kick something at the very least. But he wanted Rachel to be happy and in that moment it was more important to him that she be okay with everything than he be able to hide himself away.

"Thank you, Kurt and Finn for a lov- er, an interesting evening," Rachel announced perkily. She smoothed her skirt and held her hand out for Noah. "See you on Monday fellow Glee-clubbers."

Noah took the proffered hand and squeezed gently. "I've wanted to do this for a long time," his voice was soft and Rachel had to stand on her tip toes to hear him. When she just looked at him with a questioning expression, Noah leaned down and kissed her softly, right there in front of the whole Glee club.

"Oh," her lips formed the word but no sound emerged from her mouth. "Me too," she confided in a stage whisper. "Finn won't get in trouble if we leave before his mom gets back, will he?"

"Nah," Puck shrugged, "I don't think they'll care as long as we don't let you drive."

"I'll have you know that I wasn't _quite_ as inebriated as I made out to be," she admitted as they walked up the stairs.

"Huh?"

"Well, I'm not an idiot, Noah. I know what a Long Island Iced Tea is. So, I looked up what the effects of alcohol consumption so that I would know what to expect," she scrunched her brow briefly. "I wasn't sure that I was comfortable losing control in front of so many people that are...well, hostile towards me," she swallowed heavily, "so I thought if I faked it...well, then they would _think_ that I was behaving as one of my typical peers while maintaining a semblance of myself."

"Rachel, are you telling me that you puked on one glass of alcohol and you weren't even drunk?" Puck asked, voice rising.

"No, not quite. I'm not exactly a big person," she gestured to her petite, five foot three frame, "I've never had an alcoholic beverage before, I was nervous about this party and I really hadn't had anything to eat since lunch. Add all of that to the emotional trauma of finding out that Finn lied to me...and with Santana of all people. I think that's why I vomited"

"Okay, so why are you telling me all this shit?" He was starting to sound pissed off and that was the last thing that he wanted to be just before he closed the door of his truck for her.

"Because I like you, Noah. And I discovered tonight that I didn't like it when Finn withheld the truth from me. So, I'm just giving you the courtesy of telling you that I wasn't so drunk that I didn't know what I was doing. That if I'd never had a single drop of that silly drink I still would have chosen to snuggle on the couch with you and touch you," she blushed and looked down bashfully, "and gone down on you."

It looked like a light had gone off in Noah Puckerman's head. "Oh," he turned to her and pulled her in close, looking into her trusting, brown eyes. "I'm glad, because I'd have chosen you too. And anytime you choose to go down on me, Berry...well," he grinned, "you feel free; no alcohol needed."

Rachel smacked his rib with her elbow. "Oh, I'm sure, Noah."

"Hey, I'm just letting you know, just in case," he smiled and leaned over to kiss her softly on the mouth. What started as a sweet kiss quickly morphed into something much deeper as Puck ran his tongue gently along her lower lip.

Rachel moaned and opened her mouth, meeting his tongue with hers. Reaching down, she grabbed Noah's hand, situating it on her breast. "Touch me, please?"

Puck growled as he palmed the soft weight of it. "Shit, you have the most perfect tits, Berry. So fucking perfect," he said in a raspy voice, trailing his mouth from her lips to her throat, nipping the skin there. His thumb began tracing her nipple through the lace of her bra, making encouraging noises as the nub of flesh hardened against his finger.

"Can I touch you, Noah?" Rachel's voice was breathy, although with the way her blood was pounding she could hardly hear herself.

"Fuck yes," Puck grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest.

There was a giggle as she ran her hand from his chest, over his gorgeous abs, down to the button on his pants. "This was more what I had in mind," she corrected as her fingers danced over the bulge at his crotch.

As he continued caressing her breasts, moving from one to the other, pleased that she was so responsive to him. His mouth moved over her neck, from the tender spot under her ear to the join of her neck and shoulder which made her cry out and cling to him. After long minutes of making the girl in his arms squirm, Puck trailed his hands down her waist and over her skirt before sliding his hand up, his finger finagling its way between her silky skin and panties.

"Oh, Noah," she exclaimed, grinding herself into his hand as if she couldn't control herself.

"That's my girl, Berry," his mouth had retraced its path back to her ear where he took her lobe and bit down gently. He worked his finger into her wet, hot center and used his thumb on her swollen clit. There was a look of smug satisfaction about him as Rachel clung to him, head thrown back while he used his hand to bring her off.

Rachel just barely managed to not scream as the cresting wave of pleasure broke over her body.

"Fucking hot, Berry," Puck assured her, pulling his hand out from under her skirt. Watching for her reaction, he brought the finger she'd just covered with her juices to his mouth, cleaning them slowly and thoroughly. "Delicious."

"Now, take me home, please," she requested primly, smoothing her skirt back down," and we'll see what we can do about that, er, little problem of yours."

He looked over at her, starting the truck, and raised an eyebrow. "Little?"

Blushing, Rachel over at him. "Giant? Gargantuan? Eye poppingly large?" She laughed as Noah seemed to puff up with each new adjective. "Take me home and we'll see what we can do about that."

"As you wish, buttercup," he responded, putting the truck into reverse.


End file.
